Spirit June 2021

JUNE 2021

GONZAGA FACULTY AND STAFF NEWSLETTER

VOL. 22 | #9

› Records Shattered

2

› Nurses Get the Boot

3

› Service Recognized

4

› More on What We Learned 5

Assessing COVID Response:

Community Stepped Up, Vigilance Pays Off Vice Provost for Student Affairs Kent Porterfield wasn’t on staff yet when he began sitting in on Pandemic Response Task Force Zoom meetings with Gonzaga officials in spring 2020, figuring how best to carry on in the midst of a severe COVID-19 outbreak.

Now, looking back on the past 15 months of trials and well-calculated measures, Porterfield, who officially took his GU post on July 1, can say that the organization of effort and institutional approach to mitigating the spread of COVID-19 and maintaining community was well done. But he cautions, this is not over yet.

Students, faculty and staff will have to remain vigilant and follow protocols to ensure this novel coronavirus does not result in any more spikes in cases among the Gonzaga community. GU has worked effectively with the Spokane Regional Health District throughout this pandemic, and is awaiting direction from the governor’s office on protocols for higher education institutions moving through summer and into the fall.

While Gonzaga is planning for a return to full campus operations, it does not mean that all protocols observed this past year will be thrown out the window, Porterfield cautions.

“We’re not out of COVID. In the Jesuit tradition, we’ll take time this summer to discern about what we have experienced and reflect upon the information we have.

We’ll undoubtedly have new revelations that inform what we do in the new academic year.”

Porterfield says.

Gonzaga experienced case spikes in March and April 2021, which was expected following travel over a four-day weekend in March, the hype around the NCAA tournament, more gatherings outside, and bars and restaurants opening to larger groups.

Overall, Gonzaga’s rate of positive tests was 1.74%, an incredible testament to the adoption of, and adherence to, protocols. “If you would have told me in April 2020 that we’d be able to keep our rates below 2%, I might not have believed it,” Porterfield says.

“We never experienced the large spikes other

Health & Counseling Services Director Kristiana Holmes helps administer vaccinations to students at Gonzaga’s COVID clinic in Martin Centre. institutions saw – dozens, even hundreds of new daily outbreaks forcing campuses to pause or even shut down. We had a good plan, we were vigilant and we discovered that this is a resilient place,” Porterfield says, adding, “But I’ll be happy to never have to go through this again.”

He credited Dean of Student Wellbeing and Healthy Living Eric Baldwin, Health & Counseling Services Director Kristiana Holmes, COVID Coordinator Taylor Jordan and the COVID-19 Action Response Team for their surveillance and walk-in testing of students and contact tracing, which contributed to lower case numbers. GU’s effective use of isolation and quarantine helped mitigate the spread of infections.

“We weren’t perfect, but we pulled together. ‘Zags help Zags’ is a real thing here.”

“We learned how important it was to balance empathy with authority. This was a very

difficult time for our students. We provided pathways for them to offer suggestions and new options for activities. We provided clear guidelines and communicated those often. We initiated a social media influencer program with students delivering the messages, which proved effective, especially in the early months.”

Porterfield says COVID taught his many departments how to use technology more effectively to foster student life. Video conferencing brought small groups together and created greater access, and scheduling appointments became easier, for both students and their families. Moving forward, Student Affairs will return to a mostly inperson format, but some virtual programs will be offered for students unable to attend in person.

“Let’s just hope vaccination rates continue to go up and case numbers go down,” Porterfield says.

It’s safe to say he’s a little more braced for the year ahead than the one before, and he’s looking forward to meeting his relatively new Gonzaga family “in person.”

Page 1

First-year Enrollment Shatters Records, Gives Bright Outlook to Post-COVID Future Like many of us, Erin Hays and Julie McCulloh sweated out the dark days of COVID-19, wondering when they might be able to make face-to-face contact with prospective students again. For that had been the key linchpin to getting those wouldbe Zags to commit in past years.

In the meantime, Hays’ undergraduate admission counselors and many faculty and staff colleagues around the University resorted to various means of digital communication to help convince future Zags that Gonzaga is the place for them, but with some trepidation.

The worrying was apparently for naught as Gonzaga received commitments from 1,353 new first-year students, the largest number in GU history. Of course, some melt is expected.

“But we’re still thinking this class will enroll between 1,300 and 1,325 in the fall,” says McCulloh, associate provost for enrollment management.

The University’s budget was set with a target of 1,150 new first-year students. As late as the third week of April McCulloh was thinking 1,175-1,225. But on May 1, the day of reckoning in admission work, the number blew everyone away.

“The stress over this past year came from the unpredictability in what we were trying to do,” says Undergraduate Admission Director Hays. “We were doing everything we could to connect with students, but we really didn’t have great insight into how that would pan out. We feel huge relief.

“At first, after hearing that large number, I felt a little apprehension as to how it would impact the community. But everyone has responded with such positivity that I feel good. Certainly it’s better to be high than low.”

Beginning in March, live campus tours resumed for small groups.

“Virtual outreach is something we’ve been wanting to do for some time and then COVID struck at a time when we had just started using Zoom and the Slate software implementation was just completed. By the skin of our teeth we had the technology in place and that gave us a jump on our competitors,” Hays says.

Campus Tours Return

Both Hays and McCulloh give big credit to the community for its help in “bringing in the class.” From the Faculty Outreach Project that saw faculty members phoning prospective students to answer lingering questions, to the folks in Instructional Design and Delivery and Marketing and Communications who made virtual contact reality for thousands of inquiring students, the Gonzaga community came through.

Then, the state began to get a handle on the virus, and things began to open up.

Beginning in March, the Admission team set up a tent in the Herak Quad that served as a visit center, which proved to be a big advantage over schools around the west that couldn’t open up. “We were one of the first to provide a safe environment for campus visits, and we accommodated most of those who may still have been in the decisionmaking process,” Hays says. “We were able to give tours to many families on spring break.

And the weather couldn’t have been more cooperative.”

“The School of Engineering and Applied Science created great postcards and sent them to students, inviting them to attend virtual GEL Weekend,” Hays says. “More than 1,000 students registered for GEL, and of that group, 556 have confirmed attendance to Gonzaga.”

One dad, a marketing executive, who visited campus in the spring with his family, commented, “Your brand is so remarkable.

Community Lauded

Page 2

Both Hays and McCulloh were happy to hear students tell them that they could get a sense for the true Gonzaga community via virtual means.

No matter who we talked to on campus, everyone presented a similar message about your mission, focus and community.”

Some universities resorted to sending t-shirts and trinkets to prospective students. Gonzaga did not, and was praised by a few parents who told admission counselors that Gonzaga is true to itself, and very genuine.

This class hails from 45 states, 40.6% from outside Washington including some states not normally feeding into GU, like Illinois (20 students), Texas (20), Minnesota (25) and a smattering from District of Columbia, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Missouri.

The strategic plan had set a goal for a first-year incoming class representing 30% students-of-color by 2020; that goal was accomplished this year with 30.5% of the class represented by students-of-color.

The class GPA is 3.69 unweighted, and 3.84 when giving extra weight to advanced placement classes.

While virtual programming will remain a part of Admission’s outreach effort to connect with those who might not otherwise be able to come to campus, Hays is hoping to be sending her crew on the road to visit prospective Zags come fall.

NURSING GRAD STUDENTS DELIGHTED TO GET THE BOOT This past year 97% of Gonzaga’s Master’s in Nursing-Family Nurse Practitioner and 100% of the Doctorial FNP graduates, first time takers, passed the national exam. The GU community may be less aware of just how good these programs are, but nurses throughout the country are well aware of Gonzaga’s notable reputation.

Appreciating the success of their students and not wanting to let the next class down, Family Nurse Practitioner Director and Senior Lecturer Deb Smith and her nurse practice group persuaded the University to allow the program’s graduate students to come to campus this summer, when the undergraduate population is not here, and immerse themselves in a Nursing Procedures Boot Camp.

“There are some things that we just can’t teach as effectively online,” says Smith, herself a nurse practitioner. “Suturing is a good example. We taught it online in small groups, but now we’re able to actually work one on one with students here on campus.

This Boot Camp fills important curricular gaps in our graduate students’ education.”

Registration opened this spring, and Smith and her partners expected 60-70 grad students from across the country to sign up.

They got 130. They initially put dozens on a wait list, which created great frustration.

“Those wait-listed were madder than wet hens; our students have such a passion for learning,” Smith says. “Then, organizers found a way to run two groups through the Boot Camp, one for a day and a half for those who needed to administer men and women health exams to volunteers, and

Graduate students practicing the fine art of suturing on chicken legs. another all day Sunday for those who had completed that portion of their education.

These took place June 4-6 in Tilford Center.

“Students also learned splinting and casting, microscopy (identifying organisms in a person’s secretions) to learn how to treat a problem, and men’s and women’s health procedures, as well as uterine biopsies.”

COVID-19 taught our FNP faculty new ways of teaching students, so as to maximize learning, Smith says. She worked in tandem with the School’s Marketing and Events Coordinator Amie Le to orchestrate and manage the Boot Camp environment. They

were assisted by Lecturer Dana Jacobson, who is researching how the Nursing Department might offer continuing education credits for nursing family practitioners who want to brush up on skills or learn the newest information.

Of course, stringent COVID-19 safety protocols were in place, but they weren’t anything new to the students, who have been working on the front line of this pandemic, as registered nurses, for the past 15 months.

GIF Reopens to the World Gonzaga in Florence returned to normal inperson operations with the start of Summer Session in May.

• Gonzaga Law/GIF Human Rights Conference is June 20-21: “Black Lives Matter as an International Human Rights Movement”

• Summer program includes 29 students, 28 from GU

• The GU Dance program will perform its piece “Pay the Price” at this conference, held at the historic Santa Croce Church, where such famous Tuscans as Michelangelo and Galileo are buried

• Italian government waived quarantine protocols for incoming students using COVID test flights from the U.S. • All students reside in single rooms with dedicated bathrooms • Italy has opened up as summer approaches, and travel within Italy is open to GIF students • GIF’s summer law program has enrolled 15 students, many from U of Idaho

• GIF will enroll about 100 students as fall in Florence will be a little more normal • A new courtyard at the Mozilo Center includes covered areas for use as outdoor classrooms A new courtyard space, completed through a gift from generous donors, includes covered areas for use as outdoor classrooms.

Page 3

Distinguished, Longstanding Professors Honored as President Thayne McCulloh conferred the rank of Emeritus on 13 faculty who have rendered “generous and distinguished service” to their colleagues, students, their College/School, the University and their broader professional community.

The year following each professor’s name indicates when they began their service to Gonzaga.

FACULTY EMERITI Professors Emeriti

Beth Cooley, English, 1992 Linda Schearing, Religious Studies, 1993 Jason Chen, Management Information Systems, 1985 Mark Shrader, Finance, 1987

Beth Cooley

Linda Schearing

Jason Chen

Mark Shrader

Noel Bormann

Susan Boysen

Wayne Pomerleau

John Wagner

Robert Hauck

Cynthia Johnson

Dave Kingma

Noel Bormann, Civil Engineering, 1988 Susan Boysen, Nursing, 1991 Wayne Pomerleau, Philosophy, 1977

Associate Professors Emeriti Stefania Nedderman, Modern Languages & Literature, 1995 Robert Waterman, Political Science, 1981 John Wagner, Philosophy, 1981 Robert Hauck, Religious Studies, 2002 Cynthia Johnson, Educational Leadership & Administration, 2008 David Kingma, Foley Center Archives, 1994

Stefania Nedderman

Bob Waterman

Staff Recognized for Outstanding Service to Mission, Exemplary Innovation during COVID-19 Crisis “Caring, intentional, industrious and humbly-bold” were words used by nominators to describe Center for Community Engagement Director Molly Ayers, recipient of the Staff Assembly’s Outstanding Service in Support of Mission Award, pointing Molly Ayers particularly to her work in advancing Opportunity Northeast and DEI initiatives among her own team.

Another Mission Award recipient, chemistry and biochemistry stockroom assistant and instructor Jeff Hazen, was lauded for everything he’s done to keep the labs running Page 4

through the pandemic, and especially the care and compassion for his work-study students, said nominators, who described him as “compassionate, wellread, and empathetic.”

This year the Innovation Award was impossible to pare down to one person Jeff Hazen or office. Examples of innovation were evident across campus, from custodial staff finding new ways to keep us safe, and Health and Promotion rolling out a “positive messages campaign” to lift us up, to Student Enrollment streamlining its hiring process from manual to all electronic, and the Graduate Enrollment Management team

Countless innovative staff members went above and beyond helping campus deal with COVID-19.

choosing one of their two weekly meetings for presentations by staff members on topics of their own choice as a means to keep everyone engaged. Here’s gratitude to the innovation shown by all 850 staff members.

Using WHAT WE LEARNED To Improve Upon a Quality Gonzaga Education The conference’s final session encouraged participants to brainstorm areas of strength realized through the pandemic, and areas for improvement. o Practices that worked well include: • Creative delivery through podcasts, conference videos and more • Collaboration among colleagues on campus and beyond

Music students enjoy a live exchange via Zoom with students from Zimbabwe.

As vaccinations increased in the U.S. and President Thayne McCulloh announced Gonzaga’s return to “normal” operations in fall 2021, Instructional Design & Delivery Director Justin Marquis and Center for Teaching & Advising Director Mia Bertagnolli, along with Brenda Warrington and Jenn Klein from Academic Technology Application Services (ATAS), began brainstorming different ways to capture the learning and growth that they had seen in hybrid pedagogy and the use of digital tools for teaching during the pandemic. The result was a two-day May conference for faculty and staff: “Pandemic Pedagogy – Applying Lessons Learned from a Year of Hybrid Teaching.”

About 30 members of the Gonzaga community attended. Stories of adaptation and acclimation were shared by faculty during a panel discussion. Professors Shannen Cravens (Chemistry & Biochemistry), Nichole Calkins (Kinesiology), Cathy DeHart (Accounting), Pavel Shlossberg (COML), Elise Donovan (Human Physiology) and Gina Sprint (Computer Science) shared ways they encouraged community and engagement in classes with strategies like entertaining memes, gamification and student-selected music. They also discussed a new emphasis on authentic assessment, inclusive pedagogy, and ways they adapted to the remote environment. President McCulloh talked

about the future of higher education and Gonzaga University post-pandemic.

The second day included observations and new opportunities encountered by support personnel on campus. Flexibility in schedules, new online tools and an increase in classroom innovation were highlighted.

ATAS discussed the increase of authentic assessment in response to online proctoring programs, stretched capabilities of Qualtrics, and a heightened awareness of accessibility needs. Foley Center librarians Laura Hutton, Kelly Jenks and Anthony Tardiff talked about campus access to library resources, increased use of ebooks and open-access journals, and creating online reading lists with Leganto.

New classroom technology, online training and students’ perspective were the focus for Rick Rasmussen, Chelsea Tau and Ismael Teshome from Information Technology Services. Bertagnolli acknowledged Gonzaga’s many creative, dedicated and generous colleagues are willing and wanting to support each other and students. Marquis highlighted the IDD team’s quick transition to support all faculty with hybrid pedagogy and the use of digital tools.

Overall, the lessons learned from the pandemic and captured at this conference give Gonzaga a head start in moving beyond COVID-19 and improving the education of all our students, Marquis says.

• Recording some lectures in advance to allow individual attention and practice • Virtual office hours • Flexibility for students, faculty and staff • Empathy, adaptability, grace and humility o Necessary improvements include: • Equitable access to technology for all students • Use of a single content delivery platform to reduce confusion • Improved infrastructure • Centralized communication in emergencies • Authentic assessments to promote academic integrity

Page 5

WHAT A RUN! A two-time Under Armour national Athletic Director of the Year who served Gonzaga for 34 years, Mike Roth is retiring after 24 history-making years as director of athletics.

He shared his news at a press conference on June 8 in the McCarthey Athletic Center, one of nine facilities built or upgraded during Roth’s tenure as AD. Others include the Rudolf Fitness Center (2003), Harry A. Green Indoor Rowing Facility (2005), Pattison Baseball Complex and Washington Trust Field (2007), later renamed for Coach Steve Hertz in 2018, Luger Soccer Field and Diedrick/ DeLong Athletic Training Center (2008), Stevens Center for tennis and golf (2014), Volkar Center for Athletic Achievement (2017) and Johnson Family Boathouse (2019).

Under Roth’s leadership, the Zags thrived with unprecedented success on the court, course, water and field, earning 73 appearances to NCAA tournaments or championships while 31 student-athletes were named AllAmericans. In addition to athletic success, it was always Roth’s mantra to succeed in the classroom and in the community, as well.

The departmental GPA performance, NCAA Academic Progress Rate and Graduation Success Rate ranked the Zags among the nation’s best. GU student-athletes performed thousands of hours of community service, often without fanfare or media awareness, which characterizes Roth to a tee.

“I am the luckiest man in the world and the most blessed athletic director to work at this wonderful university and with so many incredible people,” Roth said. “I do want to single out (Gonzaga President) Dr. Thayne McCulloh, and thank him for all his support and making this all possible,” Roth said.

“Gonzaga Athletics has been fundamentally transformed under Mike Roth’s tenure of dedicated and exemplary leadership,” President McCulloh said. “His commitment to our student-athletes, coaches, staff and the Spokane community has been the foundation upon which success has been sustained, raising the profile of Gonzaga Athletics to national prominence.”

Roth is quick to defer credit for these accomplishments to his colleagues – coaches, staff and administrators, professors and advisers, and many other GU individuals who support the work that Roth and his crew perform.

Page 6

Mike Roth has been a pillar of strength and humility, preferring life outside the limelight while building one of the nation’s top intercollegiate athletic programs.

One of Roth’s many notable achievements has been the hiring of highly successful coaches.

“I never called a hit & run or recruited an athlete to put us in a position to win,” he said.

“I simply put the right people in a position to win.” During 2020-21, Zag coaches in six of 18 West Coast Conference sports in which Gonzaga competes earned Coach of the Year honors: Chris Watkins, women’s soccer; Mark Few, men’s basketball; Brad Rickel, women’s golf; Mark Machtolf, baseball; Pat Tyson, men’s cross country; Andrew Derrick, women’s rowing.

Passing the Baton When Roth steps down Aug. 31, Deputy Athletic Director and COO Chris Standiford (’92, ’99 M.A.), who has tutored under Roth for 28 years, will become Gonzaga’s next athletic director. He joined Gonzaga Athletics in 1993.

Standiford He is responsible for daily operations, oversees facility construction and external relations, including fundraising and revenue generation, and serves as sport administrator for five sports. In addition, he provides administrative support for both basketball programs, and serves as

the school’s representative on the WCC basketball cabinet.

“Mike has shown grace, patience and trust.

He has taught me by example the art of leading with compassion and care, while never compromising in the pursuit of excellence.

I am thrilled to have his continued support and counsel as I move into this new role,” Standiford said. Roth will stay on as a consultant to the program.

“Chris has been here and been a big part of this great run over the last 20 years,” said Few. “He has a great understanding of what works and what we need to do to continue to move the athletic department forward.”

Said Women’s Basketball Coach Lisa Fortier, “I know how much Chris has invested in Gonzaga Athletics, and he has been a part of every success that each of us has had. We are very excited to work alongside him to take the program to the next level.”

Meanwhile, Senior Associate Athletic Director Shannon Strahl (’99, ’02 M.B.A.) will succeed Standiford as deputy athletic director. She is a 23-year veteran of the athletic department and former Zag soccer player.

Strahl

Jackie Tanios: Finding Direction in All the Right Places A chance meeting in a Budapest bar opened up the world of possibilities for Jackie Tanios, who received her master’s in business administration degree from Gonzaga on May 8.

The daughter of refugee parents from Lebanon who moved to Sweden and divorced when Jackie was 6, she grew up always learning to be agile while adjusting to new circumstances.

So it was in summer 2018 when this young woman, who already had distinguished herself as a nurse and nurse manager in Sweden, was traveling Europe and ran into Gonzaga law student Phillip Silcher. They struck up a conversation, he took her Florence to show off his university’s Italian campus and she was hooked.

So taken by this American institution with the international campus – and perhaps a little by this man who was awaiting the results of the Washington bar exam who identified himself an “almost lawyer” – that within a year she had packed her bags, applied for a visa and was on her way to begin an M.B.A. program in Spokane.

She was obviously a little frightened . . . perhaps terrified may be more accurate.

“I left everything and everyone I have ever known. I remember walking in the grocery store and only hearing people speaking English around me and I thought ‘English is not my first language, it is not even my second language, what am I doing getting a master’s degree here, I can’t compete!?’” she says. “And yet, after joining the Gonzaga community, I soon realized that I was not alone.”

Born and raised in Sweden, she learned English by watching The Simpsons. “So my application to the M.B.A. program had a few ‘doh’s’ and ‘ay carambas’ in it,” she jokes in her commencement speech to her Class of 2021 mates, who nominated her to reflect on their behalf. “The Simpsons might have taught me the language but Gonzaga taught me how to

communicate, how to listen and how to go out in the business world and be a leader,” she says.

Tanios especially appreciates Professor Mirjeta Beqiri for her resounding faith in, and support of, Tanios. She recalls her first accounting class with Professor Gary Weber, and telling Silcher “It is so much fun, it’s like a puzzle.” Next came finance with Professor Danielle Xu. “I came home and told my boyfriend I definitely want to be an investor, it’s like trying to predict the future. And then came marketing and you can imagine that conversation,” she says.

One of her last classes was Ethics with Professor Brian Steverson. “The conversations we had in that class I will take with me forever. I was able to share my thoughts on life, education, right and wrong, God, my professional pursuits, politics and much more,” she says. “I walked away from every session feeling heard, important and valuable.”

PAYING HER DUES Tanios was a graduate assistant in business, for Adjunct Professor Yemise Awotoye, conducting research, “something not available to students in Sweden.” She worked a second graduate assistantship in Nursing for Lecturer Dana Jacobson, measuring student performance pre- and post-COVID, as well as how undergraduate grade point averages of graduate nursing students affect their progress through the graduate program.

Now, about to embark on new adventures, Tanios feels confident interacting with professionals and asking legitimate questions.

“And now I know what I’m talking about. I can talk accounting, balance sheets, financial statements and analyze the market.”

She’s grateful to a university community that welcomed her in, and made her feel comfortable and accepted. “There are so many terrible things going on where my family

“If I had let fear steer me, I wouldn’t be here,” says recent M.B.A. grad Jackie Tanios.

comes from in the Middle East, with people struggling to feed their kids. What do I have to worry about? Not raising my hand in class? If I’m unhappy about something, I have the tools to fix that.

“I approach life with a positive attitude. If you worry about things all the time it is apt to steer you in a direction you don’t want to go,” she says. “If I had let fear steer me, I wouldn’t be here. Trust in God and He’ll make sure you are where you need to be . . . and then it’ up to you to make the best of it.”

Now she is looking for a job in or around Spokane where she can apply her business and/or health care skills, perhaps with a business with global perspective. But before settling in, she’ll fly back to Sweden to embrace her mom and share the graduation celebration that mom was unable to attend. A fitting next step for the woman who found her initial direction in a Budapest bar.

NOTEWORTHY NEW HIRES

GOODBYES

Ben Clark, residence director, Housing & Residence Life; Jessica Fenander, interlibrary loan asst, Foley; Kaylen Carlson, program coordinator, Human Resources; Shaun Holloway, program coordinator, Student Involvement & Leadership; Candace Williams, coordinator I, Mission & Ministry

Jane Korn, professor, Law; Tommy Lloyd, asst men’s basketball coach; Kelsey Crawford, ticket manager, Athletics; Ashley Sundin, head public services librarian, Law Library

POSITION CHANGES/PROMOTIONS Robin Kelley, chief diversity officer, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; Debra Louden, assoc director of accounts receivable, Student Accounts; Samantha Scott, assoc director of billing & systems, Student Accounts

ANNIVERSARIES

Few, head men’s basketball coach; 30 Mark Annette Davis, director, Planned Giving; Molly Spilker, office asst, Career & Professional Development

Akins, sr. lecturer, English as a 15 Jennifer Second Language; Jennifer Sevedge, sr. lecturer, English as a Second Language

Martin, graphic designer, Marketing 10 Tracy & Communications; Floyd Grillo,

manufacturing supply engineer, Engineering

5

Drew Pascua, asst volleyball coach, Athletics; Christine Dennler-Lusco, sr. accountant for grants & tax, Controller

Van Hook, warehouse supervisor, 25 Richard Plant Kavon, assoc athletic director/ 20 Robert facilities and events

Page 7

VIEW ONLINE:

www.gonzaga.edu/spirit Dale Goodwin, Editor

Story Ideas/Feedback: Spirit@gonzaga.edu

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A JESUIT PRACTITIONER? We are all Jesuit practitioners at Gonzaga, as are our alumni, parents and friends. So says Ellen Maccarone, associate philosophy professor and faculty adviser to the president.

When we share Gonzaga with others we are engaging in the practice.

In a presentation to Regents and alumni leaders around the country, Maccarone talked about Jesuit Fr. William O’Malley’s five characteristics of a Jesuit school graduate.

The Fly in the Bottle – Until the fly figures out how to get out of the bottle, its whole world is inside that bottle. We offer students a broader view of the world. Expanding their horizons, leading them to new perspectives and relationships.

Heritage and Perspectives – It’s a balancing act between what’s in our tradition, and what new perspectives we garner after departing “the bottle.”

Not Born for Ourselves – Our purpose is not just for ourselves, but to share our wisdom and gifts with others, to make life better.

That’s part of the reason we require social justice in our curriculum, why we work across disciplines, use that power of education for good out in the world.

Eloquentia Perfecta, or the Art of the Word – Learn to speak and speak well to share our messages with the world. This is an emphasis in many of our classes, and two of our graduate programs are developed around this pillar.

The Spirit of Finesse – Disposition to seek the knowledge of the human soul in ourselves and others, below the surface, and get comfortable with all the gray area in the world. This sets a Jesuit education apart.

These five work together so that we have

Students recognize that the Jesuit-based community leads to a family feel at Gonzaga.

expanded horizons and commitments, but don’t lose our way anchored to our Jesuit heritage so we can see the value in the complex and express that to others.

One alumni leader asked: Then what makes a “Gonzaga” education different from an education at any other Jesuit institution?

While Maccarone and co-presenter Molly Kretchmar-Hendricks, psychology professor and director of the Core Curriculum, set the stage saying humanism is emphasized in our Mission Statement unlike many of the others, several other examples of humanism here were shared by the assembled leaders.

Josh Etchegoyhen (’93) identified that the supportive community and family feel at Gonzaga distinguishes itself from many

Trustee Christy Larsen said, “You don’t get lost at Gonzaga. We have a way of noticing when someone is falling through the cracks and we get our arms around them. It is not a place where you are going to be anonymous.”

“The ability to express oneself and communicate is a crucial skill set,” said Danielle Cendejas. “A Gonzaga education provides that foundation and it shows in the alumni that I interact with and bring into my workplace, as well.”

Around Campus

»» Shuying Li, assistant professor of music, is dividing a $100,000 2021 Discovery Grant from the Opera Grants for Women Composers with six others to support the development of seven new theatrical works for the trained voice and instrumental ensemble. The grant will help Shuying develop the opera “When the Purple Mountains Burn,” the story of the 1937 Nanking Massacre.

Professor Jonathan Calede, with the discovery of a new species of cat believed to be the largest ever to roam the earth. In northeast Oregon, Orcutt found a huge upper arm bone of a giant saber-toothed cat who lived in North America between 5 million and 9 million years ago, weighing up to 900 pounds and hunting prey that likely weighed 1,000-2,000 pounds, his research revealed.

»» Biology Assistant Professor John Orcutt is credited, along with Ohio State Assistant

»» Custodial Manager Edin Jusic and his crews are preparing for a huge task awaiting them:

Page 8

others. “Fr. (Kevin) Waters was my dorm chaplain at DeSmet, and he always stayed in touch during my time,” he said. “I was even invited to dinner at Jesuit House one Thanksgiving when I couldn’t go home.”

moving and repositioning roughly 2,500 desks back into classrooms once a final decision is made by the state as to what “full opening” really means, he says. “It will take us two-three weeks to reset everything in July. We’ll also be moving some common-area furniture back into place across campus, and deliver belongings stored for students who could not return to campus after the March 2020 shutdown.”

Gonzaga employs about 80 custodial staff members, Jusic says.